Baseball’s Savior

Well, this isn’t a kick in the nuts.  The Yankees haven’t even played a spring game yet and they’re already going to be short one of their stud outfielders.  Bobby Abreu strained his oblique and he’s going to be out at least two weeks.  This is one of those weird injuries that can hang around too, especially if Abreu comes back early.  It looks like this isn’t going to open up anything for Bernie Williams and Melky Cabrera will probably get the bulk of the time in Abreu’s abscence.

Sometimes it’s tough being a blogger and when you write about the Yankees, there’s not much of an off season.  Then the season rolls around and you have all of the games and the minor leagues and the drama surrounding the Yankees.  You even have the Yankees History to contend with.

Well, I have some help.  Brian has been trying to dig up bloggers to help out with minor league coverage and he found someone to take over the Yankees.  So stop by Yankees Minor League Baseball Blog and check it out.  Heck, go ahead and book mark it because if he doesn’t do a good job, he’s got me to contend with.  He’s already started talking about Humberto Sanchez so check that out as well.

It looks like Phillip Hughes is already turning some heads.  If this kid is the real deal, he may actually push Roger Clemens over to the Red Sox or Astros.  Right now, the fifth spot in the rotation looks to be going to Carl Pavano but we’ll see what happens once the game start.

Whether it’s posturing or not, Roger Clemens is now saying he’s 80% certain he’s going to hang it up.  I’m still saying he’ll be a Yankee and I won’t believe otherwise until that number goes up to 100%.  80% is way too much of a hedge because he leaves things open to come back.

Also, John Sickels did a crystal ball for Melky Cabrera.  Nothing too earth shattering here and his projections for 2007 aren’t all that great.  He also has Carbera leaving the team after 2008 which isn’t that surprising either seeing how, at least for the forseeable future, he’ll be relegated to the fourth outfield spot.

The Yankees are already making waves this spring.  After Carl Pavano proclaimed his health, veteran Mike Mussina called him out and said that Pavano still has some things to prove.  I guess if I had to choose sides, I’d have to go with Moose.  Pavano hasn’t done jack since he’s signed with the Yankees and Mussina’s been around the block.  Regardless, having a healthy and effective Carl Pavano would help out the Yankees considerably.  I mean someone has to fill out the rotation until Roger Clemens signs.

Joe Sheehan at Baseball Prospectus recently penned an article on the whole Bernie Williams situation.  Great read, and he seems to think Bernie Williams would make for a nice right handed bat in a Yankees lineup fully of lefties and that Torre is wasting a spot on the team by bringing up a twelth pitcher.

This is one of those articles that is written a little deceptively.  If you just read the first sentence, it almost seems like Mariano Rivera is playing hardball with the Yankees because of how the Yankees treated Bernie Williams this year.  As you read more, you realize that the author is just trying to comingle the two issues.

Yes, since we don’t have Rivera under contract for 2008, he very could not be a Yankee in 2008.  My bet is though, that he’s back in pinstripes in 2008 when the Yankees close out Yankee Stadium and he’ll be paid very well for his services.  This is all a bunch of stuff about nothing.

I know the Yankees would like to tread carefully when it comes to Phillip Hughes, but he may just be too good to keep him off the big league club in 2007.  He tore up Double A and he’ll be 20 years old when spring training starts up and there’s no doubt this kid could compete for the fifth spot in the rotation.  The only thing that might stop him is a resurgance by Carl Pavano or the Yankees signing Roger Clemens.

I like the fact that the team is being tentative though.  They also have to find room for Igawa so the back end of the rotation is filling up with solid competition.  If I have to guess, Hughes starts the season in Triple A but an injury or a poor performance by one of the teams starters has him up by the All Star break.

Well, it looks like Bernie Williams time with the Yankees is coming to end.  There’s no indication yet that he’s chosen who he’ll play for in 2007 but he’s said that he has some major league contracts on the table.

No matter what happens, I wish Bernie Williams the best (unless he’s signing with the Red Sox ).  This guy has done as much for the Yankee dynasty as anyone in the past 30 years and he deserves some props for that.

Also, Hank Bauer passed away yesterday.  The three time All Star played when the Yankees were winning World Series hand over fist.  Bauer was a big piece of those championship clubs too.

I just realized I hadn’t written over here a in while.  Not that I haven’t been busy, because I’ve been doing some work over at the Yankees History site.  Some of it you won’t see though because I’m trying to get a jump on all of the diaries.

There are some random pieces of news that are worth mentioning though.  Bernie Williams still hasn’t agreed to take the Yankees minor league offer with the spring training invite.  You have to hand it to Bernie because he was so good for so long.  It’s hard to hang it up.  I’d love to see him retire as a Yankee though.

Also, A-Rod was asked whether he’d opt out of his contract after the 2007 and he was noncommital.  No surprise because he doesn’t want to show his hand.  I wonder if the Yankees will try to deal him to a team where he’d want to play to get something out of this and the Yankees would have some control over where he goes.  My guess is though, the Yankees win the 2007 World Series and he sticks around.  He’s still a favorite to win the AL MVP so the fans will probably turn around on him once he turns things around at the plate.

The Yankees seem to already be thinking about how to handle pitching prospect Phillip Hughes this year.  The front office has come out and said that they’ll keep him under the 180 inning mark regardless of whether he makes the team or not.  You wonder if they’ll change their tune if Hughes is lights out in September and they need him to pitch in the playoffs.